As staff gets ready to welcome students back to buildings, there are some updates to share for heading back to school. Please see the following updates and reminders for the start of school.

First Day of School and Calendar:
As a reminder, this year, the school year will start before Labor Day. The First Day of School will be Monday, Aug. 26. The 2024-2025 school calendar is available online throughout the year on the ppsk12.us homepage.

No Bags at Athletic Events (UPDATED 8/21/2024)
Effective July 1, for security reasons, bags of any kind are prohibited from all Portsmouth Public Schools athletic events, including but not limited to book bags, backpacks, purses, handbags, fanny packs, camera bags, diaper bags, plastic bags, duffel bags, etc. Attendees are encouraged to leave bags at home. Note: Portsmouth Public Schools is not responsible for any articles left in vehicles during school events.

New Elementary School Hours:
This year, the division has changes to its school hours – specifically regarding its elementary school tiers and the schools assigned to “A” and “B” elementary school tiers have changed. To see the new assignments and times, visit the School Hours webpage on ppsk12.us.

Before and After School Care:
Registration is also open now for AlphaBest for before and after school care for the 2024-25 school year. You can register online by visiting the AlphaBest website.

Enrollment:
If you have not already enrolled your child, you can do so at any time by visiting the Student Registration webpage.

Parent Portal and School Check-In:
PPS requires parents/guardians complete the School Check-In process for each child in the family attending one of the division’s schools. This will ensure all your child’s information on file is correct and you have all necessary paperwork submitted to the division (including the Mobile Device Agreement, the Code of Student Policy and all Transportation Requests). To complete this 2024-25 School Check-In, you select the School Check-In tab in your Parent Portal account and follow the directions. If you do not already have a Parent Portal account, you must create one. Learn more here.

Food Services:
Portsmouth Public Schools is part of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which provides free meals to all students in our schools. Grab-and-go breakfasts will be available each school day and lunches will be served in the cafeteria.

School Safety:
The safety and security of the division’s students and staff is paramount. Administration works throughout the school year to strengthen practices and implement new procedures and protocols to help ensure the safety of all students. This includes the division’s ongoing partnership with the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office to provide school resource officers at all of our middle and high schools as well as support elementary schools. Among other practices, the division continues to utilize a weapons detection system at all schools, a buzz-in system for access to all school buildings as well as the Raptor Visitor Management System, which screens all school visitors against the national sex offender database. The division is not requiring students use clear bookbags, backpacks, or purses. For more information on the division’s safety program, visit the School Safety page on ppsk12.us.

Transportation (UPDATED 8/22/2024):
Bus routes will be available on the School Zones and Bus Routes webpage on ppsk12.us as well as on the Edulog Parent Portal app. Please continue to check the app for the most up-to-date route information as route stop and times update daily. As a reminder, the Edulog Parent Portal app helps keep you informed on your child’s bus location, including giving you planned bus stop times, live GPS location of your child’s bus as well as push notifications for when the bus is nearing your child’s stop. The Edulog Parent Portal app is free of charge and can be downloaded for Apple and Android devices (using the Apple App Store or Google Play Store).

Families are also asked for patience and understanding during the first weeks of school as that is when buses tend to have the most delays. Not only are drivers still optimizing the routes, but the division's youngest students are also still acclimating to the bus procedures and routines. Along those lines, families are also reminded that all preschoolers and kindergartners must have a parent/guardian/adult designee at the bus stop for afternoon drop off. If not, they will be taken back to their school. 

Vaccines:
All seventh-grade students are required to have a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) booster shot prior to the beginning of the school year. In addition, students must have two doses of the Meningococcal Conjugate vaccine (the first dose should be administered prior to entering seventh grade. The final dose must be administered prior to entering 12th grade). For more information about how you can get your child vaccinated, please call the Portsmouth Health Department at 757-393-8585.

This Back to School Page will hold all of these reminders, and continue to be updated as needed ahead of the first day of school, which is Monday, Aug. 26.